It may be desirable to provide a cap with effective tight locking and sealing to prevent undesired leakage from containers throughout all stages of the supply chain, from transportation of said containers all the way through everyday usage and accidental knock-over. It is particularly desirable to achieve the abovementioned advantages while still providing quick and effortless opening and closing of said cap.
Various solutions exist for container caps suitable for use with containers holding fluid base substances such as, shower gels, hair shampoos, suncreams, sun lotions, body oils and the like. The purpose of these caps is, on the one hand, to form a leakproof seal so that the substance contained within does not escape and so that outside air does not constantly pervade the container. On the other hand, such cap should be easy to open and close.
Caps of this kind usually have an essentially tubular-shaped cap body with a female thread provided in its inner wall for screwing onto, for example, an accordingly configured (male) thread at the upper end of a container neck. By means of a sealing arrangement, a leakproof connection is created between the cap and the container.
An example of such caps is U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,034B. U.S. Pat. No. 6,409,034B relates to a hinged cap body designed for fitting with a leakproof seal on a container opening, a hinged lid joined to the cap body for closing an outlet aperture formed on the cap body, and a locking arrangement formed on the cap body and the hinged lid. Sealing is achieved via a protrusion extending from said hinged lid which at least partly lodges in the outlet aperture when the lid is closed. Ease of opening and closing is achieved via a combination of; an elastically deformable material, which creates a biasing force between the cap body and the hinged lid in order to bring the hinged lid into an open position; and a locking projection which, in closed position, clutches rearwards to a biased, manually operable locking element which is disposed on the cap body. The locking arrangement is especially simple to use in that only a light pressure must be manually applied to disengage the locking element from the locking projection and allow the elastically deformable material to flip the hinged lid open.
Such device introduces a number of disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the hinged lid may easily flip open if the container is accidentally knocked over by the user and cause spillage of the content. Another disadvantage is that the only sealing means for preventing the content to exit the outlet aperture is the protrusion on the hinged lid which may leak when subjected to high pressures caused by, for example, high impact forces during transportation. Further disadvantages may be: alignment problems between the protrusion and the outlet aperture in case of distortion of the hinges and/or its suitability only for small outlets.
Other caps exist providing various locking mechanisms, particularly for child-proof containers of medications. Caps of this kind use mechanisms such as the “push-and-turn” system or other mechanisms such as those described in WO2006/102601A1 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,404,495B2, which require the combination of a radial force and an upward force applied onto a portion of said locking mechanism to open said cap. Although these mechanisms may be useful in preventing a child from opening the caps, they render singlehanded operation difficult, which may be important for certain users, such as for elderly.
Further caps exist providing a moisture resistant closure such as those described in EP2218654A1. EP2218654A1 relates to a cap comprising a base portion with an outer periphery adapted to extend over at least a portion of a container, a skirt depending downwardly from the base portion and a lip seal member depending downwardly from the base portion. The container has an opening bounded by a lip extending upwards from the container. The lip seal member is adapted to abut an interior side of the lip, when the cap is in closed position.
Such devices, although suitable for preventing moisture entering or exiting the container, do not provide a strong enough locking force to prevent the lid from opening upon impact. Furthermore, such devices rely solely on a single sealing surface thus more likely to leak during, for example; handling of the container by the user wherein the container is subjected to a given, albeit small, holding pressure; or accidental knock-over.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to overcome the abovementioned problems whilst providing a simple, cost-effective, efficient in use and compact solution.
In one aspect of the present invention, it is an object to provide a cap that tightly locks and seals a container to prevent undesired leakage throughout all stages of the supply chain, while providing quick and effortless opening and closing of said cap.
In another aspect of the present invention, it is an object to provide a cap resistant to deflections, particularly deflections arising from tightening of said cap onto the neck of a container, to ensure even more effective leak-tight sealing.
In another aspect of the present invention, it is an object to provide a locking means for a cap which allows tight locking against impact while being quick and easy to open, particularly single-handedly.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be better understood with reference to the attached drawings and the specification hereinafter.